How to Persuade Me

Unlike far too many people I can, in fact, be persuaded. I am not absolutely set in my views. I respond to my experiences, new developments, things I learn.

I’m not easily browbeaten but I can be persuaded.

Passion doesn’t impress me a great deal. Evidence does.

It doesn’t actually happen too frequently, largely because people aren’t willing to take the time to convince, preferring to shame, intimidate, or pontificate. I actually wish it happened more frequently.

It happens pretty rarely for me – PD must have caught one of the handful over the years. Usually the best I can do is shut someone up – they are just unable to come up with a coherent defense.

I imagine myself as Dave describes in his post, but I sometimes catch myself clinging to arguments long past their prime. I’ve read a lot of cognitive psychology, and the consensus is that cognitive patterns are very difficult to break once they are established. I like to think that I’m much more persuadable than most, but self assessment of that is extremely difficult.